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The Saturday Six “Regional Science and Technology Center” Edition – February 25, 2017

How often do we truly have the opportunity to change the face of our community? Nearly a half-century ago, residents of Kingsport did just that with the construction of the Dobyns-Bennett High School facility. In the coming months, we will enter the next phase of world-class education in Kingsport with the construction of the Regional Science and Technology Center at D-B. This game-changing addition will not only provide a wide range of enhanced educational opportunities for KCS students, but will also serve to drive science and technology development throughout the entire region.

Where does the project stand at this point? This week, the Saturday Six takes a look at six things you should know about the Regional Science and Technology Center that will truly differentiate Kingsport City Schools in our region!

There are four overall goals for the Regional Science and Technology Center facility:

Adding an enhanced science and technology program at D-B with new facilities and programming, while also increasing D-B’s student capacity.

Defining the D-B main entrance.

Improving circulation and accessibility at D-B for students and staff.

Capitalizing on an opportunity for a new identity for the D-B facility, while maintaining the current design and legacy elements.

Visioning work on the Regional Science and Technology Center actually began back in May 2016 with a session involving D-B staff members and a focus on design and programming. Since that time, conceptual design and programming work (July 2016), schematic design (August/September 2016), and design development (November 2016) have been ongoing.

As designed, the new three-story facility will include 18 science and technology labs, two teacher work spaces, six student work spaces, one TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning) lab, one large research lab, and four small research labs.

What will be happening in these incredible new learning spaces? Expanded STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programming will provide a wide range of new educational experiences for KCS students, focusing on five key areas:

The Regional Science and Technology Center will also serve a vital purpose in adding capacity to the D-B facility. With the new construction and added seat-space, the capacity of D-B will increase to support 2,500 students at 85% utilization.

When will construction on the RSTC begin? As currently scheduled, you’ll start seeing work taking place in the Fall of 2017, with a projected move-in date of Winter 2018/19.